(CNN) -- While the Olympic Games in London steals the world's attention, over 5,000 miles away another global event born from the same ideal of cultural exchange and peaceful rivalry is entering the home stretch. Rather than competition, Expo 2012 in the city of Yeosu, South Korea, is the latest incarnation of an event that officially is meant to foster international understanding; unofficially it is used for national promotion, boosting trade and providing networking opportunities. Of the approximately 4 million visitors that will have wandered through the transformed cement port and industrial site before it closes on August 12, most will have been there to enjoy the pavilions hosting interactive displays on ocean conservation and marine exploration -- the theme of this year's event. But a small but notable minority will not have been there to watch the shows. For them it provides a number of chances to broker deals and reach new contacts where 104 countries can be reached in a day. There has to be a reason for governments and private companies to be here and spend money on it. Stine L. Guldmann, director of Denmark Pavilion "It's government relations really," said Stine L. Guldmann, director of the Denmark pavilion. "South Korea is quite important to Denmark. It's an opportunity to brand your country both in a tourism way but also attract skillful people or showcase our abilities." Expo 2012 architecture Denmark's pavilion is funded by a mix of public and private money, including some Danish companies at the forefront of the renewable energy industry. Lego bricks are on hand to attract the visitors and keep them entertained, but a backroom for more grown-up meetings is regularly used. "There has to be a reason for them both (government and private companies) to be here and spend money on it," said Guldmann. "It's a success if our private partners are happy with their participation and our political relations are very strong." The basic principle of Expos is non-commercial and educational, according to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organizing body that was founded in 1928. Yet that has not prevented a strong presence from the commercial sector, with a large part of the Yeosu site devoted to temporary pavilions from South Korea's biggest corporations, some of which were built at a cost of more than $1million. "Expos don't provide concrete benefits for companies," says Lee Joon-hee, Commissioner for Expo 2012. "But is it still relevant... the evidence of why they are still relevant is that a lot of companies and countries want to host Expos." Participant countries have different reasons to be in Yeosu. Qatar and the U.S, with strong trade and diplomatic ties to South Korea, respectively, have been two of the more popular pavilions. It's the only place where you can create something that has a critical mass around it. Andrew Snowhite, CEO, USA Pavilion Earlier this year a 20-year deal for Qatar to supply South Korea with natural gas was signed between the two countries, but pavilion manager Mona Sulaiti was keen to stress that the reason for their participation at event "is about people, not business relationships." Andrew Snowhite, CEO of the U.S. Pavilion, believes the event is unique in its scope and potential. "It's the only place where you can create something that has a critical mass around it; it's a very large event. It's a big tourism opportunity for some, for others it's about trade," he said. For developing countries like Angola, participation is a way to draw attention to a little known country, either as a holiday destination or potential trading partner. "We don't see it as being old fashioned," said Claudia Santana of Angola's pavilion. "We are building our country since 2002... if you search for an official tourism website in Angola you can't find it, so we have to find other ways to show our country. There's a lot of work ahead for our country and this is part of it." For all the fostering of relationships and networking over glasses of sweet tea or Lego, ultimately the biggest tangible benefit of the event goes to Yeosu itself.

CNN) – It’s always been a case of two-way traffic in the spirited rivalry between Singapore and Hong Kong to attract expats – those that do a stretch in Singapore often do one in Hong Kong, too. The comparisons form a staple of bar room chatter in both Asian cities. After Singapore’s manicured dormitory suburbs, the sometimes over-weaning presence of the state and its tame media, Hong Kong’s fast pace polity and bare-knuckled local press can be a breath of fresh air. For those escaping to Singapore from Hong Kong’s ineluctable pollution, a breath of fresh air, quite literally, is all they want. Last week, Hong Kong choked in the worst pollution to hit the city in two years. The human resources consultancy ECA International – whose location rating survey gauges expatriate living conditions – ranks Hong Kong as Asia’s third most livable city after Singapore and Japan’s Kobe. Rebecca Bisset, editor-in-chief of Singapore’s Expat Living magazine, says that Singapore takes its fair share of corporate refugees from Hong Kong, many of them seeking a more family-oriented environment after the work-hard-play-hard ethos of Hong Kong. “I guess Singapore is the place you come when your body just can’t take it anymore,” she jokes. “Apart from the fact that it’s more of a party town, the biggest problem for Hong Kong seems to be pollution. “In Singapore, there are no problems with typhoons, the cold, the sort of things you get in Hong Kong,” she says. “Here it’s pretty much summer all year round and we love it.” While Singapore has a more staid reputation than Hong Kong, expat families are willing to overlook a certain that for the convenience and fresh air. “I do have one friend who says she will definitely go back to Hong Kong from Singapore once her children have grown up,” says Bisset. “But mostly people here like the easy lifestyle.” The government’s push to attract foreign talent, however, has recently stirred a backlash in Singapore where ostentatious displays of wealth have played poorly with the local electorate. A deadly car crash in May involving a mainland Chinese expat driving a Ferrari at breakneck speed through the city center galvanized xenophobic sentiment. Prior to this incident, Bisset says, there had been a large-scale clamp down on work permits for foreigners throughout the city state. “That has softened a bit this year but there is, perhaps, a sense that people are coming from outside and taking top paying jobs,” she says. “But when they see how much expats have to pay for housing and schools, it puts it into some perspective.” Nevertheless, the government’s drive to build Singapore as a world-class center for commodities trading as well as other financial services means the flood of expats is unlikely to dry up anytime soon. Financial services providers are increasingly basing their operations there. Richard Straus, who heads Citi Private’s North Asia division for global family offices - a branch of the bank that runs offices that manages finances for mega-wealthy families - says Singapore is becoming a focus for investors, adding that 1,000 to 1,500 family offices will emerge in Asia by 2015. “When I talk to family offices all aro

CNN) -- Anyone who remembers 1987 film "The Secret of my Success" will recall the powerful hold that a corner office with sweeping views over Manhattan had on a young and upwardly mobile Michael J Fox. More than a sharp suit or a beautiful secretary, having a nice office meant you had arrived. Although the mindset of Wall Street circa 1987 is less predominant these days, connoisseurship for good office design still flourishes. But fast-forward 25 years and, rather than a lobby full of marble or an expensive art collection, it's now living walls and natural light that's most admired. Peter Surrena, design director at trend forecasting agency PSFK, says good office design is an investment in perception for publicly-facing companies . "This perception is not only what we see, but the story we're told. Touring your office with a potential client, explaining how the conference room was inspired by a bird's nest found only in a remote corner of the Auckland Islands—there's value there, it will be remembered and may give you the edge," he said. "Explaining how the conference room was inspired by a bird's nest found only in a remote corner of the Auckland Islands—there's value there, it will be remembered and may give you the edge." Peter Surrena, PSFK design director "At the same time, you need to be smart about your investments. With design, and most anything else, it reaches a point where any increase thereafter is excessive. You could call this point 'the ultraviolet spectrum of design': it's there, but imperceptible. I believe the goal of great design is to solve the problem as efficiently and as beautifully as possible, without any excess." For employees, a pleasant workplace is directly related to job satisfaction. According to a survey by the American Society of Interior Designers, people who liked their workplaces were 31% more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. Of those seeking work, nearly half said that a company's office space affected their decision on whether to accept a job. Evidence suggests that, in well-designed offices, people work better, too. A study by the Center for Health Design suggests that good layout benefits a company by 6% of an employee's salary, and good lighting and temperature by half a percent. Sustainability also appears to have an impact on productivity. Australian researchers watched what happened when a small law firm and a stockbroking and research company moved into a 5 Green Star-rated space in their current building in Melbourne. They found that sick leave was reduced by 39%, typing speed and accuracy improved by 9% and the lawyers' billable hours increased by 7%. Workers also self-reported few

CNN) -- Food prices in Indonesia rise during the holy month of Ramadan, but that hasn't stopped Ghazmawati Akmalzen from stocking her shelves to celebrate next week's end of daylight fasting. "It's not possible to cut down on food and ingredients because we're going to have friends and family over," she said. The spending power of Akmalzen and 242 million other Indonesians shows why this secular Muslim nation is a bright spot in a darkening global economy. Thanks to strong economic demand, this emerging market was able to shake off sagging exports due to eurozone troubles and slowing demand from China. The latest figures Monday from Southeast Asia's largest economy showed Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.4% year-on-year last quarter. "The second quarter numbers beat market expectations and showed the resilience of the Indonesian economy - that was very much because of the strength of investment which grew 12% year-on-year and also the strength of consumer demand," said Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia economist for IHS Global Insight. "Domestic demand was the key factor here." More foreign companies are looking to profit from growth in the world's most populous Muslim nation. When Nissan Motor Company resurrected the Datsun brand, CEO Carlos Ghosn made the March announcement in Indonesia, where the Japanese automaker plans to build and sell the new car in 2014, to take advantage of the nation's both rising manufacturing prowess and growing middle class. Late last year, Boeing made its largest single aviation sale - 230 planes totaling $21.7 billion - to Lion Air, a domestic airline virtually unknown outside of this archipelago nation of 6,000 inhabited islands.

(Financial Times) -- The UN has called for an immediate suspension of government-mandated US ethanol production, adding to pressure on Barack Obama to address the food-versus-fuel debate in the run-up to presidential elections. Most US ethanol is made from corn. The dispute over ethanol promotion pits states such as Iowa that benefit from higher corn prices -- and in some cases are swing states in the election -- against livestock-raising states such as Texas that are helped by lower corn prices. The UN intervention will be seized upon by state governors, lawmakers and the meat and livestock industry, who have expressed alarm at surging prices for corn. Members of the Group of 20 leading economies -- including France, India and China -- have already expressed concern about the US ethanol policy. The US is poised to divert around 40 per cent of its corn into ethanol because of the Congress-enacted mandate despite "huge damage" to the crop because of the worst drought in at least half a century, José Graziano da Silva, director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, warned. Drought continues to plague U.S. Drought killing future Christmas trees Midwest farmers wait for rain "An immediate, temporary suspension of that [ethanol] mandate would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channelled towards food and feed uses," he wrote in an opinion piece in the Financial Times. CNNMoney: U.S. drought drives up food prices worldwide However, some analysts argue such a suspension could have a lower impact on food prices than expected. Even disregarding the mandate, US refiners need billions of gallons of ethanol to meet environmental specifications for their gasoline. Moreover, ethanol is now a huge component of global energy supplies and the suspension of the mandate could push up oil prices. Tom Vilsack, US agriculture secretary, raised doubts about the impact of waiving the ethanol mandate, arguing that the US biofuel industry had reduced petrol prices and created jobs. In addition, high corn prices were already curbing ethanol production, he said. Adjusting the mandate "may not do what some people think it will do", he told the Financial Times in an interview. Mr Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, also cited "fairly high" thresholds for a waiver, including serious economic harm to a region. "It's not going to be an easy decision, clearly, but I think you have to look at this thing more broadly than some have looked at it," he said. Amid worries about a food shortage this year, Mr Graziano da Silva said the situation was "precarious" but was not yet a crisis. He added: "Risks are high and the wrong responses to the current situation could create" a crisis. Corn, soyabean and wheat prices have surged between 50 and 30 per cent since June after the US endured the hottest July since temperature records began 117 years ago. The US Midwest farmbelt has also seen little rain for months. The world is braced for a repeat of the 2007-2008 food crisis as the worst US drought in 50 years pushes up the prices of staple commodities Corn prices surged on Thursday within striking distance of their all-time record as traders bet that the US Department of Agriculture will reveal a huge drop in the country's crop production in a report on Friday. As America exports nearly half the world's corn, a third of the world's soyabeans and up to a fifth of the world's wheat, changes in US supply have a significant impact on global agricu

d intensify its measures to stimulate growth. Exports rose 1 per cent year on year in July, a six-month low and down from an 11.3 per cent pace in June. Well below expectations, the figure indicated flagging external demand. Imports were up 4.7 per cent, dipping from June's 6.3 per cent pace and pointing to a slackening in China's appetite for commodities. China was left with a $25.1bn surplus, a two-month low. CNNMoney: China inflation hits fresh 2-1/2 year low With the US economy struggling to gain traction and Europe slipping towards recession, China is the world's most important growth engine, but it has also been sputtering. Its 7.6 per cent annual expansion in the second quarter was its slowest since the peak of the global financial crisis three years ago. After the weak factory data on Thursday, analysts said that Beijing would deploy both monetary easing and fiscal spending to prop up growth. The poor showing on exports also fuelled calls for the government to act on the trade front by letting the renminbi depreciate. "The key problem now is that the renminbi's real effective exchange rate (as measured against a trade-weighted basket of currencies) is too high. It is suppressing exports," said Lu Zhengwei, an economist with Industrial Securities. The renminbi has edged down nearly 1 per cent against the US dollar this year but it has risen in real terms because the dollar has done relatively well against many other currencies. Should Beijing let the renminbi fall more steeply against the dollar, it could stoke a political dispute with the US. Complaints about China's trade prowess have already featured in the lead-up to the US presidential election later this year. Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, has vowed that he would declare China a currency manipulator if elected.